Atomium SE, Periodic Table for the iPhone and iPod touch

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Anouncement

Version 1.1 of Atomium SE (Student Edition) has been submitted to the AppStore and schould be available soon. The new version will be free of charge to all owners of previous versions of Atomium SE.

Supported languages

English

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Preliminary note

Atomium comes in two declinations:

Atomium SE (Student Edition), which is best suited for students during school and the regular version of Atomium which is targeted towards the 'professional' scientists.

The description of the proffesional edition of Atomium is found here.

Introduction

As mentioned above, Atomium SE is a periodic table for the iPhone™ and iPod touch®, tailored especially to the specific needs of students during school and college.

The idea to create this version of Atomium evolved in close cooperation with teachers in natural science branches. That's why a simple to use and clearly laid out tool was created, by taking as a starting point the regular version of Atomium and by eliminating from its huge database any data exceeding the context of natural science in a school context.

As a matter of fact, all the features which make Atomium so successful and popular among the scientific community are also present in the Student Edition.

Hereafter you will find a detailed description of the different functions of Atomium SE.

Navigation

In either orientation the Tab-Bar at the bottom of the screen allows you to navigate to the different content-sections offered by Atomium SE.

	The left-most button of the Tab-Bar brings up the classic representation of the periodic system. Rotating the iPhone/iPod touch to the portrait orientation will switch the table to its vertical representation. In the vertical representation, the periodic table is rotated counter-clockwise by 90° and mirrored vertically, which allows a more efficient usage of the screen when the iPhone/iPod touch is oriented vertically. Optionally this behavior can be switched off in the 'Settings' application.
	The 'List' button displays an alphabetically list of all the chemical elements — an alternate to the classic periodic table.
	Additionally to the properties of the chemical elements, Atomium SE offers a huge list of common constants used in science. The constants are accessed via the 'Constants' button.
	The last button, the 'About' button, shows a screen with links to submit feedback, suggestions and questions to the author of Atomium SE.

Periodic Table

To a scientist the periodic table is the most convenient way to list all the chemical elements. Therefore Atomium SE always starts up by displaying this view. As mentioned above, the periodic table is drawn vertically when the iPhone/iPod touch is in vertical orientation. This feature can be switched off in the 'Settings' application so that also in this orientation the periodic table is drawn horizontally. Below are two images showing an iPhone in horizontal respectively vertical orientation. (Click the images to magnify them).

As default, the color-scheme represents the element category. The settings offer the possibility to switch to a different color-scheme. For the moment the following properties can be represented in the table-view:

Element Category
Blocks
Metals and Non-metals
Valence
Melting temperature
Boiling temperature
Electronegativity
Atomic radius (empirical)
Atomic radius (calculated)

The image below shows the different color-schemes in landscape orientation. Start the slideshow by clicking onto the image. You can browse through the images by clicking onto the buttons.

Since the screen of the iPhone/iPod touch is quite small, it might be a challenge to select the desired element from the periodic table view. Therefore, the legend explaining the color codes changes to a 'magnifying view' depicting the currently selected element together with the most important properties. In the pictures below, this is illustrated with the 'element category' property. (Click the images to magnify them)

Releasing the finger from the display while an element is selected, Atomium SE will display all the properties of that element.

Element List

An alternate method to display the chemical elements is to list them alphabetically. Tapping onto the 'List' button of the Tab-Bar will switch from the traditional table to the list shown in the picture below.

For faster navigation inside the list, the right side of the window shows an index, tapping on one of the letters makes the list jump right to that letter. Tapping onto an element name brings you to the properties of the selected element.

Properties of the chemical elements

The properties of the chemical elements are displayed in a table view. For a better readability the properties are grouped together into the following sections and subsections:

General
Safety Instructions
Physical properties

Temperatures
Expansion and conductivity
Bulk properties
Hardness
Bulk properties
Hardness
Electrical
Electronegativity
Optical properties
Enthalpies

Atom properties

Electron shell properties
neutral radii

Abundance

A complete listing of all the chemical properties is given at the bottom of this section.

In order to find your way trough the vast number of available properties, Atomium SE offers the possibility to populate a 'Frequently used' section with your most often looked-up properties. The slide-show below starts with an empty 'Frequently used' section. In the following images, chemical properties are added and then removed from this section. You can browse through the images by clicking onto the buttons.

A property can be added on the fly to the 'Frequently used' section by simply double-tapping onto the corresponding table row. In the same way, a property is removed from the 'Frequently used' section by double-tapping onto it's table row.

In the 'Settings' application you can customize the behavior of the 'Frequently used' section. On the one hand you can set the maximum of properties which should be shown in the 'Frequently used' section and on the other hand you can completely switch it off, so that it will be removed from the properties table.

The following listing shows all of the 60+ properties offered by Atomium SE, but keep in mind that even this list won't stop growing.

Atomic Number
Atomic Symbol
Atomic weight
State at 298 K
Natural occurrence
Classification
Group, Period, Block
Group name
Element category
Relevant isotopes*
Color
Date of discovery
Link to the Wikipedia
Ground state electronic configuration
Shell structure
Valence
1. ionization energy
Melting point
Boiling point
Specific heat capacity
Thermal conductivity
Coefficient of linear thermal expansion
Density of solid
Molar volume
Velocity of sound
Hardness (Mohs scale)

Electrical resistivity
Reflectivity
Refractive index
Abundance (Universe by weight)
Abundance (Universe by atoms)
Abundance (Earth by weight)
Abundance (Earth by atoms)
Atomic radius (empirical)
Atomic radius (calculated)
Electronegativity (Pauling)
Radioactive

*Since the number of isotopes per element might be quite large, this data is displayed in a separate table accessible by a simple tap onto the isotopes row.

Constants

As a scientist's companion, additionally to the properties of the chemical elements, Atomium SE also offers a huge list of commonly used constants. Use the buttons to navigate through the pictures.

Following is a listing showing all the constants available thrugh Atomium SE. For your convenience, the values of a large number of constants are indicated in several different units.

Speed of light in vacuum
Magnetic constant
Electric constant
Characteristic impedance of vacuum
Newtonian constant of gravitation
Gravitational acceleration
Planck constant
Planck constant /2π
Elementary charge
Bohr magneton
Nuclear magneton
Avogadro constant
Atomic mass constant
Faraday constant
Molar gas constant
Molar volume of ideal gas (273.15 K, 101.325 kPa)
Stefan-Boltzmann constant
1. radiation constant
2. radiation constant
Wien displacement law constant (wavelength)
Wien displacement law constant (frequency)
Bohr radius
Electron mass
Classical electron radius
Proton mass

Alpha particle mass
Astronomical unit
Light-year
Tropical year
Sidereal year
Solar radius
Solar mass
Solar luminosity
Earth radius
Earth mass
Lunar mass

Preferences — 'Settings' application

The options to customize Atomium SE are found in the 'Settings' application on the iPhone/iPod touch.

Sound effects

In the traditional periodic table a discreet 'ping' sound is played when the finger is moved from one element to another one. This sound can be switched on/off in this place.

Temperature Units

With this setting you can switch between the three major temperature units: Kelvin - Celsius - Fahrenheit.

Vertical orientation

As mentioned above, when in portrait orientation, Atomium SE draws the periodic table in a vertical representation. With the switch in this row it is possible to switch from the vertical to the horizontal drawing of the periodic table.

Color scheme

In this section you can choose the color scheme used to draw the chemical elements in the periodic table. The available color schemes are listed above under 'periodic table'.

Element Properties

With the switch in the first row of this section it is possible to switch off the 'Frequently used' section in the element properties list. If you choose this option, this section won't be displayed at all. With the second option 'Maximum items' it is possible to define the maximum number of properties which can be added to the 'Frequently used' section.

Constants

The settings for the 'Constants' work in the same way than those for the 'Element Properties'. Here too the 'Frequently used' section can be switched on/off by flipping the switch in the first row, and the 'Maximum items' displayed can be changed with the control in the second row.